At the twilight of the British empire, bankers, lawyers and accountants from the City of London set up a spider’s web of offshore secrecy jurisdictions that captured wealth from across the globe and funnelled it to London. The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire ***** Youtube 1.18.01, 2017
The British empire: the largest empire the world has ever known. For over 300 years Britain ruled, its armies conquered, and its bankers proclaimed the might of its currency. But one day it all began to fall apart. One by one countries declared their independence from Britain and no amount of force could reverse the tide. As British elites saw their wealth, privileges and empire disintegrate, they began to search for a new role in a changing world. And they found one in finance. This is a film about how Britain transformed from a colonial power to a modern financial power and how this transformation has shaped the world we live in. ibid.
Britain’s overseas jurisdictions – the last remnants of empire. Accountants and lawyers from London arrived in the Cayman Islands and other dependences and began to draft a set of secrecy laws and regulations. ibid.
The City of London adapted and survived … Its Lord Mayor is selected by the heads of medieval guilds. ibid.
‘Over and over again we have seen that there is another power than that which has its seat at Westminster. The City of London, a convenient term for a collection of financial interests, is able to assert itself against the government of the country. Those who control money can pursue a policy at home and abroad contrary to that which is being decided by the people.’ ibid. Clement Attlee
BCCI: extensive financial fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing … The Bank of England did nothing. ibid.
‘The Trust lies at the core of the British secrecy model.’ ibid. expert
International banks from across the globe set up branches in London and Britain’s offshore jurisdictions in order to take advantage of this new system. ibid.
Secrecy jurisdictions are heavily used for fraudulent and grey area financial activities, areas where secrecy is not just desirable but a necessity. ibid.
The Cayman Islands is the first largest financial centre in the world. It hosts 80,000 registered companies, over three-quarters of the world’s hedge funds and $1.9 trillion in deposits. It has a population of 60,000, roughly equivalent to New York’s homeless population. ibid.
Accountants form the backbone of the offshore system; they administer the structures that allow individuals and corporations to shift their money offshore and evade taxes. ibid.
In Britain secrecy and complexity in finance and government help to obscure corruption in public office. ibid.
Oxford Street, London: Britain’s busiest high street. With over two hundred stores taking billions of pounds a year. Three million visitors come here every week, making it one of the liveliest streets in the country. It’s home to an army of workers, shop assistants, cleaners, police, and underground staff, working twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to make sure it’s always open for business. Oxford Street 24/7 aka Inside Oxford Street I, Channel 5 2018
Bringing in the shoppers are four underground tube stations. The busiest right in the middle is Oxford Circus, with three tube lines handling over eighty million people a year. ibid.
Police are back on the trail of some of the Street’s most persistent criminals. ibid.
It’s all about the workers who keep Oxford Street up and running … The night bus inspectors also have their work cut out. Oxford Street 24/7 aka Inside Oxford Street II
70% of shop thefts are committed by drug addicts. ibid.
Oxford Street swelters as record temperatures hit London. 30,000 party people are hot to trot as they celebrate Pride. And police and the council launch an operation to rescue the street’s dogs. Oxford Street 24/7 aka Inside Oxford Street III
‘Pride is the third biggest event London hosts.’ ibid. St John ambulance chap
30,000 in the parade alone. ibid.
Christmas is coming to Oxford Street. The lights are going up on Britain’s busiest high street. With more than a million extra visitors expected each week things don’t always go smoothly. Oxford Street 24/7 at Christmas aka Oxford Street IV
The last customers are leaving but work on the Street never stops. ibid.
Selfridges’ flagship store: founded in 1909 it’s the second largest shop in the UK after Harrods. ibid.
But the shops will only be closed for one day because now they’ll be getting ready for the next big event: the January sales. ibid.
Anthony Hope: I have sailed the world
Beheld its wonders
From the Dardanelles
To the mountains of Peru
But there's no place like London!
Sweeney Todd: No, there’s no place like London!
Anthony Hope: ‘Mr Todd?’
Sweeney Todd: You are young
Life has been kind to you
You will learn
[Instrumental]
There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it
And its morals aren’t worth what a pig could spit
And it goes by the name of London
At the top of the hole sit a privileged few
Making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo
Turning beauty into filth and greed – I too
Have sailed the world
And seen its wonders
For the cruelty of men
Is as wondrous as Peru
But there’s no place like London. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 2007 starring Johnny Depp & Helena Bonham-Carter & Alan Rickman & Jamie Campbell Bower & Jayne Wisener & Ed Sanders & Timothy Spall & Laura Michelle Kelly & Sacha Baron Cohen et al, director Tim Burton, ‘No Place Like London’
I’ve come to London: the epicentre of homelessness in the UK. Over a quarter of England’s rough sleepers live in the capital: that’s more than 1,000 people who bed down here every night. I’m joining this community with no money. 60 Days on the Streets II, Channel 4 2019
If I can find an empty doorway. ibid.
London’s homeless community hasn’t been too welcoming. ibid.
People are still being kind. ibid.
Not everyone on these streets is actually homeless. ibid.
It’s disturbing not to be able to do more for an OAP in such poor health. ibid.
This place is fucked! Everything is fucking backwards. Trailer Park Boys: Out of the Park Europe I: London, Ricky, Netflix 2016
I’m beginning to hate London. It’s changed. It’s not like it was when we were kids. It’s dying slowly. Bit by bit. Nobody laughs out loud any more. Nobody whistles. It’s all grab grab grab. Money money money. Too many cars, too many drunks, too many foreigners. Filth everywhere. It’s not a place to raise kids any more. Fox III: Pugilism not Vandalism, Renie to Vinny, Thames TV 1980
The Thames: Lifeblood of Britain’s capital. An empire was born on its banks, and from here it traded with the world. Throughout its long life the river has sustained its people. But at times it has been fierce and unpredictable. A focus for work and play. The River Thames: Then & Now, Channel 5 2020
The River Thames flows 215 miles to the North Sea. Its epic course takes it into the heart of London, passing landmarks recognised the world over. Lightermen have been hauling cargo along the Thames for centuries. ibid.
In the early twentieth century, in the age before smokeless fuel, London was often shrouded in fog known as Pea Soupers. ibid.
‘Eight miles of docks on either side’ … ‘It was tough manual work’ … ibid.
In the post-war years the docks continued to thrive. Few Londoners could imagine a city without a working port and an army of working men at its heart. But by the 1960s that future was disappearing in front of the workers’ eyes. ibid.
Back then the key to London’s wealth was its docks. ibid.
Now the Thames handles more than five million tons of cargo. The vast majority of cargo now arrives and leaves in containers. ibid.
‘The first container ship arrived in this country in the early 1960s. And that was the beginning of the end. And very fast about 35,000 people lost their jobs on the docks and then all the ancillary workers, and it was catastrophic.’ ibid. Sophie Campbell, historian
Battersea would be key as London went electric … The largest brick construction in Europe. ibid.
Twenty-eight bridges span the river … ‘I’m standing in front of the most iconic bridge on the Thames: Tower Bridge. Everybody knows it. It’s got those twin towers. And it was built in 1894 so that the shipping could still come into this very valuable bit of water, the pool of London … It looks medieval, and that was the plan … It’s a really early steel-framed construction, but on the outside they put Cornish Granite and Portland Stone dressings … So it looks like a medieval castle.’ ibid. Sophie Campbell
An extraordinary structure that helps keep the flood-water away … The Barrier had closed nearly 200 times since becoming operational in 1982. ibid.